What does it mean to take context seriously for engaging in markets? Lessons from Afghanistan

This policy brief argues that aid to Afghanistan from 2001–2021 relied on flawed assumptions about how markets functioned, leading to missed opportunities for more grounded and effective economic interventions. It is part of a series arguing that aid efforts in the country missed opportunities for more effective, context-aware interventions.

Throughout 2001–2021, many millions of dollars were spent on an economic transformation of Afghanistan that never happened. Investment was based on an implicit theory of how markets worked and how markets could drive the economy, which did not match the reality on the ground. Economic and agricultural development policy can’t work without understanding how Afghan markets work.

This policy brief looks at how understanding Afghanistan's market context might have changed the focus or scope of aid interventions. It is part of a series on the importance of taking context seriously in aid programming.